London Q&A

Test your knowledge of London and its boroughs So you think you know about London?

A magnet for millions of visitors from across the globe, one of the world’s leading financial centres, a cultural beacon, a place of fascinating and enduring history, a city of extremes of wealth and poverty and home to more than seven million residents.

By any reckoning London is one of the world’s most remarkable cities.

But, as those responsible for planning, developing, and delivering the myriad services that keep London thriving are well aware, London is also a city of remarkable challenges.

Since 2000 London has seen the return of two tier regional and local government. The Mayor and the Greater London Authority are responsible for strategic decisions in the capital. But from parking to adult care, from waste services to library services and from planning to education, it is the capital’s 33 local councils that are responsible for the majority of services Londoners use and need daily.

Try taking this quick quiz to test your knowledge of London and we hope the answers will tell you a bit more about the work of London local government and its role in shaping this great city.

There are 10 questions in each category: science and nature; people and population; places; sports and culture and number crunching – the answers can be found at the back of the book and detailed references are available on the London Councils website. London Councils

London Councils is the representative body for London local government committed to fighting for the best possible deal for our members – the 32 London boroughs, the City of London, the Metropolitan Police Authority and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.

Much of our work involves lobbying the government and others on behalf of our member councils, not only for a fair share of resources, but also to protect and enhance councils’ powers to do the best possible job for their residents and local businesses.

We develop policy and do all we can to help London councils improve the services they deliver. We also run a range of services ourselves, all designed to make life better for Londoners.

For instance we run the Freedom Pass concessionary fares scheme, which gives a million older and disabled Londoners free travel on buses, tubes and trains. The scheme costs more than £260 million a year and is paid for by our member councils.

London Councils is a cross-party organisation, funded and run by our member authorities to work on behalf of them all regardless of political persuasion.

London Councils’ main policy decisions are taken by our Leaders’ Committee, which brings together the leaders of all member authorities once a month at our office at 59½ Southwark Street, close to London Bridge.

You can find out more about London Councils and our wide range of work at www.londoncouncils.gov.uk Q1 Residents of which UK region generate the highest domestic output of CO₂ per person: Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland or London?

Q2 How much of London’s land is occupied by housing? a) half b) a third c) a quarter

Q3 What strange memento of a vital medical discovery from 1796 can be found at St George’s Hospital, Tooting?

Q4 How much of London is still farmland today?

Q5 When and where was the first ever television broadcast? (And for a bonus point – what was it of?) Q6 What animal has an estimated London population of 10,000?

Q7 If London’s municipal waste was put straight into Canary Wharf Tower, how long would it take to fill it to overflowing? a) eight days b) eight months c) eight years

Q8 Most Londoners know that the ‘Prime Meridian Line’ passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, but when was it first internationally recognised as the line that marks 0 degrees longitude? a) 1684 b) 1784 c) 1884

Q9 When and where did Londoners first ‘spend a penny’?

Q10 Which of the following cities has the lowest average annual rainfall and which has the highest? a) London b) Paris c) Rome d) New York Q1 Which London borough has the largest population?

Q2 After the UK, what is the most common country of birth for London residents?

Q3 How old is the average London councillor?

Q4 Which is the most densely populated borough? Q5 Which tube line carries the most passengers?

Q6 Which is the least deprived London borough?

Q7 Which is the most religiously diverse borough in London?

Q8 Which two London boroughs have a BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) population of more than 50 per cent?

Q9 Which borough has the highest proportion of people over 60?

Q10 What proportion of London children are currently living in poverty (below 60 per cent of national median income)? Q1 London has four UNESCO World Heritage sites – can you name them?

Q2 Collectively, how many towns around the world are ‘twinned’ with London boroughs?

Q3 Where was London’s first airport built?

Q4 Which London borough has the highest number of properties with a significant risk of flooding?

Q5 Where in London is the largest mosque in western Europe? Q6 Which is the oldest surviving bridge crossing the Thames still in use today?

Q7 Which London public park is the oldest in Britain?

Q8 What is the most visited tourist attraction in London?

Q9 What is the longest journey possible (in miles) on the London Underground without changing trains?

Q10 Where is ‘Number 1, London’? Q1 Which London palace links Pink Floyd, Blur and Robbie Williams?

Q2 Which borough is home to three of England’s top football teams?

Q3 Who was the first player to be disqualified from a doubles match during the Wimbledon Championships?

Q4 What annual London sporting event have 746,635 people taken part in, so far?

Q5 What event does the annual Baishaki Mela celebrate? Q6 Name the five host boroughs of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Q7 Which West End show recently celebrated its 20,000th show and is currently the longest running production in London’s theatres?

Q8 Which London music venue could you stand Nelson’s column in?

Q9 Which famous London market took its name from a Spanish silver port?

Q10 Why did London host the 1908 Olympic Games at short notice? Q1 What bright idea could reduce London’s CO₂ emissions by 575,000 tonnes a year?

Q2 London is home to 13 clubs in the professional football leagues (The Premiership and the three divisions below it) – can you name them all?

Q3 What, typically, do Londoners spend 1 hour and 16 minutes a day doing?

Q4 Approximately how many languages are spoken in London schools?

Q5 What proportion of London’s Underground is actually underground? Q6 How many people died in the 1666 Great Fire of London?

Q7 When did London’s population first top 1 million?

Q8 How many councillors are there in London?

Q9 How many roads are there in the City of London?

Q10 How many volunteers will be needed to help with the 2012 London Games? Science and nature

A1 At 3.55 tonnes per person, the UK region with the highest per capita domestic output of CO₂ is Northern Ireland. At 2.26 tonnes per person, London has the lowest. The RE:NEW programme being rolled out across London in 2010 will reduce the capital’s carbon emissions by thousands of tonnes by ‘retro-fitting’ existing housing to higher environmental standards.

A2 One third of London’s land is taken up by domestic buildings and gardens, which is by far the highest proportion of any region in England (the average is just 5 per cent). Despite this, London is still one of the greenest capital cities in Europe with an estimated 3,000 parks and open spaces.

A3 A cowhide, belonging to a cow named Blossom, from whom Edward Jenner extracted the world’s first successful smallpox vaccination in 1796, still hangs in the library of St George’s Hospital in Wandsworth. Today London boroughs are leading calls for health funding in the capital to be directed to early care and prevention. The proposals are set out in London Councils’ cross-party Manifesto for Londoners.

A4 Although the total amount of farmland in London has declined by about a third over the past 40 years, some 8 per cent (12,000 hectares) of London is still farmland today. The vast majority (85 per cent) of London’s farmland is located in just five boroughs; Bromley (30 per cent), Havering (24 per cent), Hillingdon (13 per cent), Enfield (12 per cent) and Barnet (6 per cent).

A5 The world’s first ever television broadcast took place on Tuesday 26 January 1926 at John Logie Baird’s laboratory in Frith Street, Soho. An invited audience of Royal Institution members watched grainy images of a ventriloquist dummy on what Mr Baird called his ‘Televisor’. Today, film, television and commercial industries are estimated to contribute more than £13 billion to London’s economy. Experts estimate there are now 16 foxes per square mile in London and a total population of at least 10,000. In the late 1940s, the government began a programme of killing foxes in the London area. Despite this, foxes continued to thrive, and the practice was abandoned in the 1970s.

London produces 20 million tonnes of waste a year and just eight days of London’s waste would be enough to fill Canary Wharf Tower to overflowing. The London Waste and Recycling Board (LWaRB) was set up in 2008 with the aim of reducing London’s waste and increasing the proportion that is recycled.

In October 1884 delegates from 25 countries met at the International Meridian Conference and overwhelmingly voted to adopt Greenwich as the Prime Meridian marking 0 degrees longitude on nearly all the world’s maps. Today, Greenwich is one of the most popular tourist destinations outside central London, with nearly 10 million visitors a year.

The world’s first public conveniences appeared at the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace in 1851. More than 800,000 visitors paid one penny to use the facilities. In recent years London’s boroughs have launched a number of initiatives to improve access to public toilets including community toilet schemes where businesses are supported to make their facilities freely available to residents, visitors and tourists.

At 588mm per year London has less rain on average than Paris (607mm) Rome (802mm) and little more than half of New York’s downpour, which averages a whopping 1,023mm a year. Despite this, the presence of the Thames means that flooding remains a risk to the capital. Flood planning is one of the key tasks of the London Resilience Team, which brings together strategic organisations in the capital, including the Mayor, London Councils, TfL and the emergency services to plan and prepare for potential emergencies in the capital. People and population

A1 Croydon currently has the largest population of any London borough, at just under 342,000 people. Accurately counting London’s very mobile and diverse population is harder than elsewhere. The main source of population data is the census. London Councils is working closely with the Office for National Statistics to make sure the 2011 census captures London’s population statistics as accurately as possible.

A2 After the UK, the most common country of birth for London residents is India, where 210,000 London residents were born. This is followed by Ireland, Poland and Bangladesh, and compares to five million who were born in the UK. An estimated 1.3 million people move into and out of London each year making it harder for London boroughs to plan and deliver services to residents than in areas that do not experience the same population ‘churn’.

A3 The average London councillor is 54 years-old. This is lower than any other region and significantly lower than in the Shire counties where the average age of councillors is 62 years-old. London Councils’ be a councillor campaign was launched in 2008 to encourage more younger people, women and BAME groups to stand for election as councillors and further diversify London’s local democracy.

A4 Kensington and Chelsea is London’s most densely populated borough with 14,727 people per km². At around 2,750 people per km², the City of London has one of the lowest population densities, but during the working day this shoots up to 100,000 people per km², as 300,000 people work in the Square Mile.

A5 With 207 million passenger journeys a year, the Northern line is London’s busiest tube line. This is closely followed by the Central line and the District line. These numbers include journeys made by more than one million Freedom Pass holders. Provided by London boroughs, the Freedom Pass allows older and disabled Londoners free travel on almost all public transport in London. Richmond is the least deprived London borough. However, there are extremes of wealth and poverty in London, and even the more well off boroughs have pockets of deprivation. This means no London borough is among the 10 per cent least deprived boroughs in the country. Richmond is the only London borough in the 20 per cent least deprived.

Harrow has the greatest religious diversity in England and Wales, with a 62 per cent chance that two random residents would be from different religious groups. Harrow’s main religious groups are Christian (47 per cent), Hindu (20 per cent), Muslim (7 per cent) and Jewish (6 per cent). It has the highest density of Gujarati Hindus in the UK, while Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue has the highest membership of any single synagogue in Europe.

Newham and Brent are the two boroughs that currently have a BAME population of more than 50 per cent. It is predicted that eight boroughs will have a BAME majority by 2031. However, levels of ethnic diversity vary across the capital. In Havering, Bexley and Bromley, the BAME population is around or under 10 per cent.

At 23 per cent, Havering has the highest proportion of residents over 60 years-old. As the population is getting older, social care budgets will be stretched to meet increasing demand. London Councils has made the case for devolving funding and accountability to the local level, to improve services and save taxpayers money.

At 39 per cent (about 600,000 children) London has by far the highest rate of child poverty of any UK region. The independent all-party London Child Poverty Commission, supported by London Councils and the Mayor of London between 2006-10, called on the government to continue to focus on tackling the capital’s high rate of child poverty. Places

A1 London has four UNESCO World Heritage sites – Westminster Palace and Abbey (listed in 1987), the Tower of London (1988), Maritime Greenwich (1997), and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (2003). English Heritage recruits councillors to act as Historic Environment Champions and persuade their local authority and community to support and enhance the historic environment. London has the highest number of champions of any region.

A2 London boroughs are twinned with around 108 other towns and cities across the globe. Several of these twinnings date back decades and were established to promote cultural, social and educational links between areas, as well as encouraging trade links and economic benefits.

A3 The Croydon Aerodrome was built in 1915 as London’s first airport, but was replaced by Heathrow in 1959. Croydon was the first airport in the world to introduce air traffic control in 1921 and was where Amy Johnson set out on her record-breaking flight as the first woman to fly solo to Australia in 1930. An all-party alliance of 19 London boroughs, known as the 2M group, joined forces to oppose plans to build a third runway at Heathrow and continues to lobby for more stringent noise controls.

A4 Despite not bordering the Thames, Enfield has the highest number of properties with a significant chance of flooding in London – 9,655 in total. Enfield includes the longest length of river corridor in London, known as the New River Loop, which covers more than 27 miles. London Councils has secured £3.2 million from Defra as part of the Drain London Forum to develop proposals for a strategic approach to surface water flood risk management across the capital.

A5 The Baitul Futuh mosque in Merton is the largest mosque in western Europe, covering 5.2 acres and accommodating up to 10,000 worshippers. It was opened in 2003 and cost £5.5 million, paid for by donations from the Ahmadiyya Muslim community. London Councils’ be a councillor campaign was launched in 2008 to encourage more younger people, women and BAME groups to stand for election as councillors and diversify London’s local democracy. The oldest surviving bridge crossing the Thames in London is Richmond Bridge, built in 1774-77. The bridge replaced a ferry owned by the Crown that previously operated at this point on the river. Richmond is the most exported place name in the UK, giving its name to 55 towns on three continents.

The oldest public park in Britain is Victoria Park, stretching through London’s East End and managed by Tower Hamlets. The park first opened to the public in 1845 and quickly became known as the People’s Park because of the number of important political rallies and meetings held there. There are 270 parks, gardens, heaths, commons and greens in London, largely funded by local government.

The British Museum is London’s most popular visitor attraction with an average 5.9 million visits per year. It’s also the second most visited museum in the world after the Louvre in Paris. Sixty-four per cent of London’s total Green Flags awarded by the CAA were for sport and culture services.

The longest continuous journey on the London Underground is on the Central line, where a journey from West Ruislip to Epping covers just over 34 miles. The average tube train clocks up 76,800 miles each year, equivalent to travelling more than three times around the equator. Epping Forest runs from east London to Essex but is managed by the City of London.

Number 1, London, is better known as Apsley House, the Duke of Wellington’s former residence on the south-east corner of Hyde Park. The grade I listed building acquired this nickname as the first house encountered after passing the tollgates at the top of Knightsbridge. There are more than 18,500 listed buildings in London, of which 3 per cent are considered ‘at risk’. Ninety-three per cent are grade II listed and the boroughs are largely responsible for their stewardship. Sport and culture

A1 Alexandra Palace in Haringey has played host to several of the world’s biggest artists, including Pink Floyd, Blur and Robbie Williams. Haringey has long been a key hub for the UK entertainment industry and is today home to the highly regarded Wood Green Entertainment Short Film Festival.

A2 Hammersmith and Fulham is home to Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers FCs. Despite this, Hackney has a claim to be the true home of London football. Hackney Marshes are home to 75 football pitches (and three rugby pitches).

A3 The first player to be disqualified from a doubles match during the Wimbledon Tennis Championships was Tim Henman in 1995 after he hit a ball in anger which struck a ball girl. Sport England has recorded that in the past 12 months more than 800,000 adults in London have taken part in some form of competitive sport.

A4 Since it began in 1981 a total of 746,635 runners have completed the London Marathon. In 2010 50 Southwark council staff worked on the marathon clean up from midday to 5pm and collected almost five tonnes of recyclable material from the route.

A5 Brick Lane’s Baishaki Mela has been held annually for 13 years to mark the Bengali New Year. The festival is the biggest Bengali celebration outside Bangladesh and West Bengal. London is the most ethnically diverse region in the UK. Of the 20 most ethnically diverse councils in the UK, 19 are in London. The five host boroughs of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games are Newham, Hackney, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich. London Councils has committed £1.8 million to enhance Londoners’ involvement in cultural activity and volunteering to ensure that communities across London benefit from the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie recently celebrated its 20,000th performance. The Mousetrap is the longest running West End production and has been running for 57 years. Around nine million people attend London’s theatres every year. London Councils has been working with local authorities to make sure that funding for the arts and cultural services continues and is available to residents, including through its cultural policy document Playing their part.

The O2 music venue (formerly known as the Millennium Dome) has played host to Prince, the Spice Girls and Led Zeppelin and is big enough to accommodate Nelson’s Column (standing) and the Eiffel Tower (on its side). The O2 will also play host to the gymnastic events for London 2012.

Portobello Road takes its name from Puerto Bello, a Spanish silver port in the Gulf of Mexico that was captured by Admiral Sir Edward Vernon in 1739. Notting Hill is home to the world famous Portobello Market and the annual Notting Hill Carnival. The carnival is Europe’s biggest street festival, attracting more than one million visitors. The route of the carnival spans both Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster councils.

Rome pulled out of the 1908 Olympic Games after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius devastated Naples in 1906 and the Olympic fund had to be diverted to rebuild the city. The 1908 Olympics were therefore held at White City, in Hammersmith and Fulham. In 2012 London will become the only city in the world to have hosted the Games three times. Number crunching

A1 If every existing lightbulb in London homes was replaced with an energy efficient bulb, the capital could save 575,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year. Retro-fitting London’s older housing stock with measures such as loft and wall insulation could reduce London’s CO₂ by a whopping 1,200,000 tonnes per year.

A2 London has 13 football clubs in England’s top four leagues: Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Fulham, West Ham, Barnet, Brentford, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Dagenham and Redbridge, Leyton Orient, Millwall and Queen’s Park Rangers. In 2012 the new Wembley Stadium will host the final of both the men’s and women’s Olympic football tournaments.

A3 With an average commute of 38 minutes each way, Londoners spend more time than people in any other region travelling to and from work. London Councils has been working with the GLA, TfL and others to boost the number of journeys Londoners make by bike where there is scope to significantly reduce congestion.

A4 More than 300 languages are spoken in London schools and in inner London fewer than half the pupils have English as a first language. Despite the challenges this poses London’s schools, exam results have improved rapidly in recent years with the proportion of pupils gaining five or more good GCSEs rising from 45 per cent in 2000 to 64 per cent in 2008.

A5 Surprisingly, less than half (45 per cent) of London Underground is actually underground. The majority of the 249 miles of tube network is above ground. The Freedom Pass travel concession to older and disabled Londoners, giving them access to free travel on London’s tubes, trains and buses, is negotiated between London Councils and Transport for London and paid for by London boroughs. A6 Just six deaths were officially recorded as a result of the Great Fire of London, although historians point out that official figures say nothing of the fate of the undocumented poor and that many more also died of hunger and cold in the winter following the fire. With nearly 7,000 staff, today’s London Fire Brigade, run by the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, is the third largest in the world (after New York and Paris).

A7 London’s population officially exceeded one million in 1811, at which point it was the largest city in the world. It remained the largest city in the world until 1957 when it was overtaken by Tokyo. London’s population is projected to rise to 8.5 million by 2026.

A8 There are 1,861 council seats in London (excluding the City of London which traditionally operates on a non-party political basis through its Lord Mayor and members of the Court of Common Council and Court of Aldermen). The leaders of all 32 London boroughs and the City of London meet monthly to agree London Councils’ policies and priorities.

A9 There are actually no ‘roads’ in the City of London. As one of the oldest parts of the capital, the term road was not in use when the City’s streets, alleyways and passages were named. Today the City of London is the capital’s smallest local authority in terms of area, although the City owns and manages land outside the ‘Square Mile’, such as Hampstead Heath.

A10 London 2012 hopes to secure up to 70,000 volunteers to help make sure the London Games run smoothly and successfully. London Councils is working with LOCOG (the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games) to ensure as large a proportion of these volunteers as possible are recruited from London boroughs. London Councils supports environmentally-friendly products and good value for money. To minimise waste and help reduce costs, this publication is printed on NAPM accredited paper that uses 75% recycled fibre, manufactured in the UK at mills with ISO 14001 accreditation.